So long big city, hello rural Michigan! For the past few years we have been (somewhat clumsily) trying to figure things out. Like how to get organic vegetables to grow, how to heat our house using only a wood stove, how to build a chicken coop, the wonders of composting, and what on earth all these little critters running around are....

February 12, 2012

I've done it! I've finished our seed order for spring! And well ahead of time, which, these days, is quite an accomplishment. It seems that life with a 1 and a half year-old has been an exercise in "catching up".

In the past I have ordered from mulitple seed companies. Since we are not going to be selling seedlings at Farmer's Market this year, just growing our own food, I opted to limit our seed purchases and order only from Baker Creek (one of our favorite heirloom seed companies). As much as I love to try new varieties of heirloom veggies, we just don't need 25 varieties of tomatoes if we won't be selling any of them. I must admit, though, it was truly hard to narrow down my selection!

Seed shopping can quickly get out of control- I mean, who can resist those gorgeous photos of oh-so-ripe fruits and veggies, a delicious reminder of warm sunny days to come?), so it's best to come up with a budget BEFORE you start browsing. This year I decided to keep our order under $100.

Now, this may sound like a lot, but not only will the garden provide all of our veggies for summer and most of our veggies for the year, but I will also have tons of extra seeds to give away/save for next year.You certainly don't have to spend this much, but at between $1.75 and $3.00 a packet for most seeds, it quickly adds up. Plus I am a sucker for trying interesting and unusual varieties, for not only fun, but also for growing for farmers' market.

When you buy seeds, you usually get anywhere from 15 to 200 seeds, depending on the type of plant you will be growing. Small seeds, like lettuce, come in very large quantities, whereas bigger seeds, like beans, tend to come in smaller quantities. Then of course how rare the variety is also determines how many seeds/how expensive they might be.

If you want a large selection of veggies for your garden, and especially if you want to grow more than one variety per veggie, chances are you'll find yourself with an overabundance of seeds and a large cost to boot. The solution? Either find a friend or neighbor who would be willing to split an order of seeds with you, or properly store your seeds for next year. And by properly, I mean throw them in a bag or jar and store somewhere where they won't get wet or eaten by mice. I theory, they shouldn't get too hot either, but I have to be honest here: we have stored our seeds in the most horrid of locations (left in the greenhouse all summer, baking at 120+ degrees for months) and *still* had germination the following season.

Although a lot of seed companies will tell you that you should buy new seeds each year, we've had great success with continuing to use our old seeds for up to three years. Sure, the germination rate goes down with each year, so you'll need to be sure to plant extras, but you should end up with at least some plants. This can save you a lot of $$$ on seed purchases. In 2010, I bought approximately $125 worth of seeds (we were selling at Farmer's Market that year). I was very lazy about storing them, and so some of them ended getting ruined throughout the course of the year, but in 2011 I bought absolutely NO seeds. I simply used leftovers from the summer before. And actually, we used leftovers from 2009, too. That means that for less than $65 per summer, we were able to grow two years worth of food and over $1000 worth of plants to sell at market. Not bad!

So, the big question then is what to grow... Here is our shopping list from this year, just in case anyone is interested. I always like checking out other gardener's lists, looking for cool new varieties to snag.

February 07, 2012

If we were all living on unlimited resources, we could certainly find some amazing superfoods from all over the world. There are a number of tropical fruits that fit into this category (acai, goji), but they are just too expensive to fit in on a tight budget. Thank goodness we have some amazing powerhouse fruits and vegetables that are native to our own backyard, which means you can either grow them or find them locally at a great price. (OK, I'm going to cheat and include a few tropical items that are still reasonably priced and so give good bang for the buck....:)

Here is my list of superfoods that you should include regularly in your diet:

1. Sweet potato: OH, this is one of my favorites. Cheap, delicious, nutritious. The Big Three. Sweet potatoes are loaded with fiber, vitamins and minerals, and they have the added benefit of stabilizing blood sugars, which helps curb your appetite. Not to mention anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties, and the amazing ability to add a little zing to an ordinary potato recipe.

2. Free-range eggs: Yes, there is a difference. Regular eggs are OK. Free-range eggs are superfoods. There is a huge difference between the yolks of free-range eggs and conventionally-farmed eggs (which are laid in "chicken warehouses" with thousands upon thousands of chickens smashed together): free-range yolks are a brilliant, vibrant orange. Yes, that's right- egg yolks are SUPPOSED to be orange, not yellow! THough they may cost a dollar or two more a dozen, they still come out in the affordable range (a good free-range egg costs 30-40 cents a pice, so if I eat two for breakfast, I am still under $1- a cheap meal!). Rich in anti-oxidants, choline for brain development, and protein, eggs are a food to include!

3. Broccoli- Loaded with cancer-fighting anti-oxidants, vitamins, and fiber, broccoli is not only cheap, but also incredibly nutritious. When we are in the midst of the winter doldrums, I'll load up on the broccoli for a good nutritional boost. If you garden, blanch and then freeze as much broccoli as you can grow. Organic broccoli is much preferred, since there is no skin to peel off.

4. Bananas- Potassium! Fiber! Protein! Vitamins! Need I say more? Bananas are good for your bones, blood, organs, and even mood. They are dirt-cheap, and though a tropical fruit, so shipped a gazillion miles to get to your door, I had to include this one. In a rush? Grab a banana, it will buy you a bit of time until you can get a good meal. And remember to go organic- bananas are sprayed with some pretty serious fungicides that leach through the peel. I've even seen organic bananas at Walmart lately- so it's getting easier to find them.

5. Blueberries: We are in the middle of Michigan blueberry country, so I'm biased. But seriously, blueberries are a major brain food. Antioxidants, vitamins, fiber, taste. Yum! We grow or buy all of our organic blueberries in the summer (when organic blueberries are a mere $2.50 per pint), and freeze them for year-round use. Go blueberry picking! It's a lot of work, like many fruit-picking experiences, but boy does it feel good to eat those blueberries, knowing exactly where they came from! My 18 month-old son LOVES frozen "babooms". I keep them on a low freezer shelf so he can grab the bag himself. He thinks they are a treat (aren't they, though?), and I think they are just awesome!

6. Oatmeal: Proven to lower the "bad" cholesterol and full of fiber, oatmeal is cheap, filling, hearty, versatile, and nutritious. Steel cut oats are the best, but take longer to cook. Try grinding them up in a coffee grinder to shorten the cooking time to a mere 7-10 minutes. You can cook a big batch and freeze in individual portions for a quick and nutritious breakfast. Otherwise go for the old-fashioned, which are better than the quick cooking (nutritionally speaking). Add some raisins, "babooms", craisins, cinnamon, molasses, and/or yogurt - all of those boost your nutritional bang and your taste bud zing. Alternative: add in some multi-grain cereal for a truly wholesome breakfast.

7. Quinoa- One of the world's oldest and healthiest grains, this ancient rice substitute is a powerhouse of protein. In fact, quinoa is a suitable protein substitute because it has an amazing array of amino acids. It is also fairly easy to cook, makes a great stuffed pepper recipe, and can be used to boost up dishes like meatloaf without even knowing it's hiding in there! If you've never cooked with quinoa before, it's time- and it's a great food to get your kids to like.

8. Purple cabbage, beets, and other "purples"- Rich in anti-oxidants (purple cabbage has 36 anti-oxidants alone!), the purples are always a great bet. They contain an especially beneficial antioxidant, anthocyanins.

9. Avocado: OK, here is another tropical gem. Avocados are rich in vitamin K, dietary fiber, potassium, folic acid, oleic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin C, copper, and healthy calories. Some developing countries use avocado as a main source of nutrition, because they are THAT healthy. SO many ways to enjoy them, too. I think here in the US it is more common to turn them into a salty dish such as guacamole, but when I was in Sri Lanka, we ate avocados fresh from trees with a sprinkling of sugar on them. I was surprised at how tasty and refreshing they were that way. You can add them to smoothies for an extra boost, or eat them with mayonaise like they do in Japan (you can add tomato, chicken, or tuna that way). Yum! You can find them in the summer cheaper and fresher, and if you mash them up you can freeze them for later.

10. Leafy greens: THese green plants are SO easy to grow, and if you grow them yourself, they are super cheap. Kale and chard will keep growing all summer if you pick off the leaves regularly and provide a bit of shade, and they will still grow well past the first frost. That means you can have a source of leafy greens from as early as March until well into November. Chock full of nutrition, greens are a powerhouse of health: low in fat, high in dietary fiber, and rich in folic acid, vitamin C, potassium, iron, calcium, and magnesium, as well as containing a host of phytochemicals, such as lutein, beta-cryptoxanthin, zeaxanthin, and beta-carotene. A daily serving of leafy greens can significantly lower your risk of many ailments, including diabetes, bone disease, cardiovascular disease, and even cancer!

11. Healthy supplements: A quick and easy way to boost the nutritional value of almost anything you eat is to add one or more of the following, all rich in vitamins and minerals: nutritional yeast, sea kelp, wheat germ, flax seed oil, and molasses. Nutritional yeast has a light cheesy taste and so works well in anything "cheesy" like pastas and meatloaf, but a little bit is undetectable in yogurt, smoothies, etc. Sea kelp is salty and slightly fishy, so works good in Japanese food, or anything with a strong flavor that will hide it. Wheat germ and flax seed oil are mild and hidden well in most foods, and molasses is perfect in anything slightly sweet or earthy.

January 28, 2012

Since we're talking about growing your own food, I thought I'd take a day here to talk about making your food, and making it go as far as possible, especially when it comes to babies and toddlers.

Thinking that you don't have the time to make healthy, nutritious meals? Over the years, we've learned what is probably the easiest, and most obvious, trick to saving money and time (although, in truth, we don't always use it...don't ask me why...). By making food in large batches and then freezing the extra, you make multiple meals in just a little more time than it would have taken to make just one. It also means you might be able to buy your ingredients in bulk, which saves money, too.

Where we really use this is with baby food. Our 16-month old son can be picky. It can be somewhat disheartening to create a healthy meal that I was so excited to put together, only to discover that he just isn't into it, at least not today, at this meal. We've found the most expensive part about feeding a baby or toddler is the waste. *Sigh*.

The solution? A muffin pan and a freezer. I take the leftovers and freeze them in muffin-sized portions, then throw the "muffins" in ziploc bags to pull out another day. And usually, another day finds Chris more in the mood for whatever it was that he refused the first time.

This works for whole foods, like cous-cous, mac-n-cheese, spaghetti, chicken parmegiana, and such, but it also works for smoothies, yogurt and fruit mash-ups, oatmeals and other cooked cereals, and even baby food jars or pouches that I've opened but he won't eat. Just freeze in a non-stick or silicone muffin pan (silicone works great, because stuff just pops right out when you bend the pan), and pop out (using a spoon, if necessary).

Here is an example of the last meal I froze for our son. I had made Annie's Homegrown Organic 5-Grain Elbows & White Cheddar Macaroni & Cheese, which I then mixed with spinach, carrots, granulated kelp, and nutritional yeast for a healthy boost. Mac-n-Cheese is his absolute favorite, but for some reason (and, oh my, are there lots of reasons with toddlers, as you probably know!) that night, he wouldn't touch it.

I froze the leftovers in a muffin tin, which left me with 12 muffin-sized servings (anywhere from 6-12 meals, depending on how hungry he is). The next night, he asked for "nunus" (noodles), so I popped out a portion, thawed it in the microwave, and voila! He gobbled up the whole bowl in minutes. (FYI, the macaroni in this is made from super healthy grains like quinoa, spelt and amaranth, so it's super high in protein. The dish itself is a little high in sodium, like all packaged foods, but the other healthy stuff makes me feel a little better about it.)

And if you do the math, at about $2.50 per box, the macaroni and cheese I made comes out to between $0.20 and $0.40 a meal for Chris. Not bad!

If you need to freeze stuff in smaller amounts, for a younger baby or for smaller snack-sized portions, we've found the absolute perfect method involves using this Wilton Silicone Brownie-Squares Baking Mold. Because it's made of silicone, it bends, and the cubes just pop right out. Then you can throw them in a ziplock bag or airtight container, label, and freeze. They won't stick together, because they are already frozen, so you can easily take out cubes one at a time. This is how we made Chris's baby food from the time he was 6 months old, and actually, I still use it for freezing his 10-grain breakfast cereal and yogurt. He happens to really like frozen foods, so we let him chew on just slightly thawed cubes, which are reminiscent of frozen yogurt, and which, I think, feel good on his sore teething gums.

And while we're on the subject of baby, I should mention our two favorite baby food books: Super Baby Food and The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook. The first one has the healthiest "super porridge" recipe I'd ever seen, made from all sorts of ground whole grains (which, surprisingly, was much easier than I thought it would be). Our son thrived on and actually quite enjoyed this addition to his diet.

So do you have any tricks to freezing food, or other ways to save time and money, that might make it easier to make nutritious, homemade food? We'd love to hear!

January 24, 2012

In my previous post, I mentioned some of our favorite heirloom, organic seed companies. Now is the time to start browsing, dreaming, planning, and getting excited about your garden!

But what do you do when your seeds arrive? Those tiny little bundles of garden promise must be planted and nurtured indoors until the cruel chill of winter has passed. Although every plant has its own timetable for germination and transplanting outdoors (which means that not all seeds should be started at the same time), and some seeds can be sown directly into the grown, mid-March through mid-April is roughly the appropriate time indoor seed starting here in Michigan. Before that time comes, you will need to determine which seeds to start indoors and gather all of your supplies.

I think one of the best things you can do to prepare for a gardening adventure is research. Blog posts can only cover a limited amount of information at a time, so I would strongly recommend investing in some good books that will serve as a reference for years to come. Some of our favorites are:

After a bit of research, you'll need to plan what to plant your seeds in. We have about a gazillion of the 72-cell plant trays which we purchased for peanuts at a local farm auction, but you don't have to be that fancy. You can use empty egg cartons, which are perfect and since repurposed, very eco-friendly, but you need to start stocking up if you want to have a decent collection of plants. You can also make cute little pots out of newspaper using this cool handy-dandy PotMaker® The Original Pot Maker tool, which we actually did one summer. (OK, I have to be honest here... our friend Ron was staying with us at the time, and he was the one who made all the pots, over 600 of them.... I'm not sure I could have had the patience for that many, but if you don't need 600, it might be a great solution! A good job for kids?).

If you are a complete newbie to seed starting, you might want to go the easy (albeit slightly more expensive route) to seed starting and purchase a starter kit. Hydrofarm makes a nice starter kit, the Hydrofarm CK64050 Germination Station with Heat Mat, that includes a 72-cell tray, a heating mat, and a dome lid for around $25. With this kit, you will still need to purchase your planting medium, but that gives you some choice and flexibility to choose organic , which is nice.

We use and love Light Warrior® Agro-ponic® Grow Medium for starting our seeds (on Amazon, about $25/bag with shipping). It is so chock-full of nutrients that we do not need to fertilize the little guys. When we transplant to pots, we use the Light Warrior again, providing a burst of fresh nutrition, and it is quite some time before the plants are in need of fertilizer. You might want to find a hydroponics store locally, to save on shipping, although we still pay almost $20 a bag at our favorite local organic grow store, Horizen Hydroponics in Kalalmazoo. If you use soemthing like peat as a starting medium, you will need to fertilize regularly, since peat has no available nutrition. A great fertilizer to use would be Bonide Fish Emulsion Plant Food, 16 oz..

Where to keep your seedlings once they germinate? In most cases, simply setting your tray of plants in a sunny window will not provide adequate light, and your seedlings will be tall and spindly, if they grow at all. My husband is quite the handy guy and was able to build us a grow shelf out of 2 x 4s, pressed board, and standard shop lights (photo above, post to follow soon with instructions). Building your own grow shelf is by far the cheapest way to go, and you'll also end up with a much sturdier product, but if you are not inclined to building your own, then check out the Hydrofarm JSV4 4-Foot Jump Start T5 Grow Light System . It gets pretty good reviews and should provide ample room for starting seeds for a small to medium garden.

Once your seedlings have reached a height of a few inches, they will need to be transplanted. You can use plant pots, or you can use paper or plastic cups, or you can be super eco-savvy and recycle household items like empty yogurt and cottage cheese containers, coffee cans, frozen juice cans, etc. Whatever you choose, it should be able to withstand at least a few weeks of watering without completely deteriorating.

Once your seeds are planting, you should mark them with the name of the plant and the date you planted. There are special wooden plant markers that they sell for this purpose, but they are outrageously expensive and unnecessary. We buy a jumbo box of popsicle sticks and use those. Voila! Any leftovers can be used in a kids' log cabin building contest.

And finally, you will need to provide ample water and and nutrients to your little babies. A simple watering can is all that's needed. This OXO 1069727 Good Grips Indoor Pour & Store 3.17-Quart Watering Can, Blue is a nice little one if you want something sturdy and attractive. But why not be eco-friendly, and turn an empty 2-liter bottle into a watering can following these simple directions? So easy, free, and green! (Just make sure your holes aren't too large, you don't want to drown your delicate seedlings.)

Whatever you choose for watering, I recommend a spout with mutiple small holes, as opposed to a can with just one larger pouring spout, so that you don't flood your tiny plants. Some people mist instead of watering, but in my experience, it takes an awful lot of misting to keep those babies damp, especially if you are using a very bright light.

So start browsing, planning, arranging... planting time will be here before you know it!

Approximately 1 lb. of potatoes (I usually use 5-6 medium to large potatoes)1/2 cup of chopped leek1/2 of an onion, chopped4-6 strips of bacon (really good bacon makes all the difference in the world)3 cups milk3 cups chicken broth1 tub of Buitoni Alfredo Sauce (in the refrigerated section of the store)2 bay leavesDash of red pepper (optional)

Dice the bacon and fry in a large cooking pot with the onions and leeks until bacon is almost crisp.Peel and chop the potatoes into smallish cubes. Add potatoes to the the cooking pot, add the bay leaves, cover with the broth and milk, and bring to a boil. Cook at a light simmer for about 20-30 minutes, until potatoes are very tender and can be mashed, and desired thickness is achieved. Add water or broth if soup gets too thick. Add the alfredo sauce and simmer for 10 minutes more. Serve with warm bread and yummy salad, and you have quite a meal!

Just so you know, this recipe is not an exact roadmap to soup perfection, but more of a ... rough guide. I tend to "wing it" in the kitchen, adding a bit of this and a bit of that until it works, which sometimes makes it difficult to share recipes. Hopefully, though, it will get you on the right track to a most excellent soup. And if you found you needed to alter something, by all means, please share!

I have an urge to add asparagus, which I think would go well with the cheesiness. I also think a little bit of chopped carrot and celery might be a nice addition. Maybe next time. And perhaps cream cheese? So many possibilities....

Here's hoping your winter days end with many warm soups and full tummies...

Just so you know, this recipe is not an exact roadmap to soup perfection, but more of a ... rough guide. I tend to "wing it" in the kitchen, adding a bit of this and a bit of that until it works, which sometimes makes it difficult to share recipes. Hopefully, though, it will get you on the right track to a most excellent soup. And if you found you needed to alter something, by all means, please share

January 18, 2012

Whether you are a seasoned gardener, or a brave, intrepid soul looking to grow some of your own food for the first time, it's time to start thinking about starting your own seeds. If you intend to buy plants at a local nursery instead, you still have awhile before you need to make garden plans. But if you want to experience the joy and miracle of watching your own food burst forth from the tiniest speck of a seed, now is the time to get into garden mode. And, besides, nothing whisks away those winter doldrums like the gorgeous colors and delicious promises of a seed catalog. We spend many a chilly winter eve in front of a blazing fire, sipping hot cocoa, "oohing" and "aaahing" over the gorgeous and unusual varieties that heirloom seed catalogs bring right to our door.

Imagine the delicious juiciness of a purple cherokee tomato, so ripe and wonderful that one bite sends your taste buds into a frenzied state of happiness, tomato juices drizzling down your chin. A dash of salt, a splash of olive oil, and my, oh my... a gourmet snack fresh from nature! Seed catalogs offer the promise of heaven, of fruits and veggies that no grocery store can ever offer, tastes and smells and colors that will burst forth from your garden and decorate your dinner plate. And the best part? Starting plants from seeds costs pennies per plant!

If you don't have one already, you will need some sort of grow shelf for starting your seedlings, and we will show you our DIY, easy-peasy pumpkin squeezy grow shelf in a later post. For now, it's time to start requesting catalogs so that you can give yourself some delicious motivation to get serious about your garden.

Hands-down, our favorite paper catalog is from Baker Seeds. Their catalog is a masterpiece (and yes, we know it is more eco-friendly to browse seeds online, but I promise you, there is nothing quite as wonderful as flipping through this catalog, all curled up under a warm blankie, photos popping off the pages with their vibrant colors and yummy gorgeousness). Other catalogs worth perusing include Seed Savers Exchange, Peaceful Valley (with its artist-rendered drawings instead of photos, and excellent gardening tips), Bountiful Gardens, and Fedco Seeds (no photos in this one, but once you know what you want, they are very affordable, particularly if you are buying seeds in large quantities).

So go ahead, request some catalogs, and start dreaming your garden to life. Spring will be upon us before we know it!

January 12, 2012

The birth of our baby boy a year and a half ago brought new joys and dreams, but also new worries. We have always eaten healthy food, mostly organic, and much of it homegrown, but suddenly it seemed like not enough. Foods that I didn't mind eating before now seemed wrought with chemicals and impurities when I set them before my baby.

But where to start? Trying to switch to completely organic foods seemed overwhelming and expensive. Of course, there is always something else that can be found organically, for a price. To simply substitute what we were eating with an organic version could easily have doubled our grocery bill. So, then, how can a frugal family find a way to eat food that is both healthy AND affordable? We wanted this to work not only for us, but also for others interested in doing the same.

I truly believe that if there is only one aspect of your lifestyle that you can put extra effort and extra expense into, it should be your diet. Food is so very important to our health. And our agricultural and livestock systems here in the US are becoming unhealthier by the day. Food that was once nourishing and tasty is now shipped halfway around the world, pumped full of pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, or other chemicals, genetically modified, and damaging to our health. Eating organically grown food has never been more important.

So then back to the question: how do we cost-effectively make our diet healthier? We have spent the last year taking a close look at our purchases, our eating habits, cooking methods, and sources of food, to come up with a realistic plan. Over the next month or so, I plan to write about how we are "organicizing" our life. I had originally planned this as just a post or two, but quickly realized that there is so much to write about. So instead, I've made it a theme. Here's a quick roadmap of where this will all go:

Why organic?If you are going to be rehabbing your diet, it is important to know why you are doing it. The stronger your reasons, the more likely you are to stick to the plan. For us, it was easy: babies and young children are much more susceptible to the dangers of pesticides, herbicides, and antibiotics and growth hormones in meat and dairy. My husband and I both agreed that we wanted our son to start life with a clean slate, free of all those nasty chemicals for as long as possible. In addition to that, we wholeheartedly believe in farming practices that nurture this beautiful world of ours and keep its inhabitants safe and healthy.

Plan a GardenHands down, the cheapest way to get organic food into your tummy is to grow it yourself. And trust me, you do not have to be a master gardener to do this. When my husband and I moved from the city to the country, neither one of us had ever had a garden before. And in that in that first summer, we grew enough not only to eat all summer and can for winter, but also to give away wheel barrels full of veggies to our neighbors.

You can start small, with just a few key veggies that your family enjoys, or if you are brave and have the room, try to grow a large enough variety to meet much of your family's needs. And with a baby in the family, a garden provides a very affordable way to make delicious, healthy baby food with minimal effort (pick, wash, puree, freeze).

Join a Health Food Store Co-opWe aren't able to find much organic food around here, out in the rural countryside. It took some time, but we finally figured out how to source the organic items we cannot grow ourselves. My husband works in Kalamazoo, and so we became members at a health food store co-op there, Natural Health Center, since he is able to stop in on his way home from work (saves me the cost of gas of an extra trip). As members, we receive a 20% discount, which brings the prices down quite close to non-organic items at a regular grocery store. In addition, they offer bulk items that are very affordable.

Farmer's MarketEven if it's not organic, buying local produce is a healthy choice for both you and the environment. When food does not have to be shipped across the country, it can be picked at the peak of freshness, rather than in a totally unripe state. Farmer's Markets offer competitive prices, delicious produce, and the chance to buy large quantities when a fruit or veggie is in season and then can or freeze what you don't immediately need for later use. I had never realized that asparagus is sweet and juicy until we moved out to the country and bought asparagus that was picked that day. What a difference from the asparagus we had been used to in our Chicago grocery store!

Raise Your Own ChickensEven if you live in an urban area, you might still be able to raise your own hens, as long as you have a yard area where you can build a small coop. Many urban centers now allow residents to keep a limited number of hens (usually no roosters, though, for obvious reasons). There is absolutely nothing better than the flaming orange yolks of healthy, homegrown chicken eggs.

Join a CSAThis is an especially good option for those who don't have either the space or the time to grow their own vegetables. A CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) membership entitles you to a box of fresh-picked veggies every week or two all summer long. You generally receive whatever is in season. This is a great way to support small, local farmers and to build a connection with your food. Many CSAs offer farm visits, volunteering opportunities, and some of the freshest, tastiest food around. Local Harvest is a great website for finding a CSA, organic farm, farmer's market, or other sources of organically-grown food.

We'll be taking a look at these ideas, as well as a few more, over the next month to see how they can help a family eat more healthy, local, and organic food without breaking the bank. We'll have resources, tips, stories, recipes, and hopefully lots of sharing from others who are living organically and loving it. Stay tuned!

November 15, 2011

The birth of my son brought many changes to life as we knew it around here. I remember standing out by the garden, 8 1/2 months pregnant, tears streaming down my face as I stared at what was seemingly just an overgrown jungle. My well-meaning husband tried in vain to console me. So much love, so much sweat into my garden. But I could no longer bend to weed, and the heat and the mosquitoes and the sleepless nights were all too much. There must have been a dozen mosquitoes taking turns devouring my obviously delicious blood as I stood there, trying, really, really trying, to come to terms with the obvious truth: there was no more garden, only weeds and bugs and diseased tomatoes where lush green had once stood.

Now, I look back and find it somewhat amusing, this inability of mine to let something important go to make room for something ever so much more important. But it was a long road to get there, as I slowly let one thing after another go on hiatus while I figured out what it meant to be a mother. And it was not easy, giving up the productivity of my former life, unsure of when (if ever) it would return. Eventually, even this blog fell victim to the busy days of Life with Baby Chris. Homemade bread? Forget about it. Canned vegetables? Not so much. Clean house? You see where this is going....

And the worst part was I had found all of these wonderful, inspiring Mommy Blogs- moms that are out there doing it all and loving it: The Gypsy Mama, SouleMama, Simple Mom. I really enjoyed their posts (on the days I actually found time to read them), until one day, I turned off my computer with this sinking, horrible feeling of despair. I was not like them. I did not "do it all". I did not knit my own clothes, and make handmade decorations for my home, create beautiful crafts, paint old furniture, sew my baby's clothes, grow all of our own food (anymore), and - most glaring of all- blog every day about all of it. I loved these moms, but I could not be like them. I had to find a way to be inspired without getting depressed and tired. I had to figure out how to make the priorities of my life come to terms with the realities of my days.

You see, when we moved out to the country, we didn't have kids, and I was working from home. We had ample free time to fill, and we did so by taking on as much self-sufficient living as possible. Our days were filled from morning til night with various chores and projects, and it was wonderful. We spent five exhilerating years out here in the country, learning, growing, soul-searching. But bring on life with a baby, a husband working full-time off the farm, me running a business and teaching part time, and long, endless, sleepless nights, and suddenly there was no time for so much of what had become our life. It was more than just disappointing. It was a seismic shift in priorities, in how we chose to expend our energies.

At first, I decided I needed a good time management overhaul. I quickly became mermerized by what have become known as the "Life Hackers"- people who are masters of organizing time and life into extremely productive, neat packages. You've probably heard of some of them. David Allen's "Getting Things Done" is one of the more popular. They are all systems designed to cut the waste and inefficiency out of life. Increase productivity. Reduce chaos. Do more things in less time... so you can, again, do more things in all of the extra time.

That sounded great at first. I wanted to get more done! But the problem is, after initially getting excited about the idea, and trying all of these lists and folders and time-cutters, I realized that this was just not me. I didn't want to account for every second of my day. I didn't want to go-go-go until I dropped. I wanted to stop and day dream. I wanted to sit on the side of our trail in the woods and count the clouds as they slowly rolled by. How did those things fit on to-do lists???

We are a world in danger of going too fast. Where are we all running to?

And here I am, one year later. I have become a Slowed Down Person (which, really, is what country living is all about). I no longer feel the need to "do it all". Chris and I sit on the kitchen floor and watch a loaf of bread baking in the oven (if he'll sit that long), and it might be the most productive thing we do all day. Because, you see, I have learned that productivity is not about crossing things off lists. It's about producing experiences that create lifelong memories, learning, and growing. It's about taking the time to sit and giggle hysterically together because Chris finds it enormously amusing if I stick my tongue out and say "BLAH!" in a very, very deep voice. It's about long walks through the woods, looking at the trees and the colors and the bugs and listening for the birds and the rustling of animals in this strange and mysterious habitat. Sometimes, that means getting things done together. And others, it means getting things undone.

I am hopeful that as Chris grows, he and I will share in many wonderful hobbies: creating, crafting, photographing, painting, cooking. And perhaps then we will be "productively creative" (or creatively productive?).

For now, I'm content to just hang out while the little guy figures out cool things like how his hands work and why he has so many toes....

October 30, 2011

This summer things got a little hectic. WIth an almost-one-year-old underfoot, a garden overrun with weeds, a bountiful harvest, and pure exhaustion at the end of busy, glorious, sunny days, we needed easy solutions for storing our harvest. Which meant that this year we opted for freezing all of our veggies instead of canning them, for two reasons: one, it was quicker, but also, and prehaps more importantly, it is much more nutritious to freeze than to can. Canning over-boils the contents and zaps your fruit and veggies of most of their major nutrients.And since I intend to feed those veggies to my little guy, I didn't want to *zap* away all the nutrients.

So when our neighbor stopped by with about 40 ears of the most fabulous corn we have ever tasted, I *sighed* at the thought of cutting all that corn off the cob. Then an idea hit me- with 3 freezers down in the basement, we had plenty of extra freezing space (which is the biggest obstacle to freezing corn on the cob). Why not just freeze the entire cob? Could this be done, I wondered? If only it could be oh-that-easy!

A quick search on the internet uncovered a couple of disappointing facts: it is definitely possible to freeze corn on the cob, BUT the corn was doomed to become ultra-mushy. I thought about it, and decided to give it a shot anyway. 40 ears of corn were quickly husked and thrown in Ziplock freezer bags before I had time to think twice.

The first two ears weren't bad. We thawed the corn, and then threw them on a grill. A little mushy, but full of flavor and sweetness. It all went downhill from there. As time went on, each cob we pulled out of the freezer got progressively mushier. It was a disaster. All that delectable corn, doomed to an eternity of mushiness.

And then we discovered an amazing trick, completely by accident. I had reduced cooking time to a matter of seconds in boiling water in an effort to ward off as much mush as possible. Unfortunately, I pulled a duo of cobs out of the boiling water before the kernels were even warmed on the inside, and since I had already dumped the boiling water, was forced to microwave them for a couple of minutes to warm them up. And then it happened- the crunchiest, juiciest, freshest-tasting corn on the cob ever- straight out of the microwave.

The microwave??! Not what I would have dreamt of as the perfect solution. But should you ever decide to freeze your corn on the cob, know that it is indeed possible to have crunchy corn all winter long!

September 14, 2011

This past week we have had the pleasure of attending one of our favorite summer events: the Allegan County Fair. Fair days...wandering the maze of tents and trailers, the greasy aroma of sizzling fair food tempting us off in untold directions...getting lost in the hum-drum of happy fair-going families... strolling aimlessly through bustling 4-H animal barns, a quaint Historical Village, and endless odd and unusual spectacles that especially please our 1-year old son (who loves to feed the goats, but is still too young for the camel rides).

County Fairs have deep small town roots and are truly an American icon....catch one this summer if you still can!

July 28, 2011

Living in rural SW Michigan on 20+ acres of woodlands, we have some of the worst mosquitoes this summer we've ever had, thanks in part to the very rainy year, the high heat and humidity, and some flooded swamplands at the back of our woods. It's been so bad, in fact, that I've had trouble hanging out outside with our baby- we just get attacked instantly!

So I set out on a mission to find a solution... after all, we moved to the country so we could enjoy the great outdoors, and not have to hide out inside. Some neighbors down the road sprayed their land with a chemical mosquito killer, which is absolutely out of the question for us, but it got me thinking. There must be an organic or natural solution that can help.

My search led me to three very helpful solutions that have literally changed our life. Of course, we still get the occasional bite here and there, but are no longer swarmed instantly by hundreds of those pesky biters. We aren't offering them at The Greater Green yet, but they are available on Amazon, so I am including the links in this post.

First, this summer I came across the best natural insect repellant I have EVER found. Actually, it is the ONLY natural bug spray that has worked AT ALL out here. We are absolutely thrilled with the results. It is a tad stinky- be warned- so if you are somewhat sensitive to smells, this might not be for you. But if you are like us, and desperate to keep mosquitoes away without using DEET, then you probably won't care that this stuff doesn't have the most pleasant aroma. And we have gotten used to it over time, so that I hardly mind it at all now. Here is the link:

The next thing we looked into was a really effective bug zapper. We have had zappers in the past, but they just weren't powerful enough to handle the 2 acres of cleared land surrounding our house. I had given up on a zapper, until I looked into the Flowtron line. They have zappers available that are rated for up to 2 acres- crazy! We purchased one that is rated for an acre and a half, and after about a week and a half, the difference is amazing. I can literally go outside and not see a single mosquito for 10-20 minutes- something that was totally unheard of before. At night this zapper goes crazy! The trick is to put it far enough away from the area you intend to hang out in, so that bugs are lured away, and so the zapping noise doesn't drive you crazy. Ours is located on a light pole with an outlet about 25 yards from the house. Here is the zapper we purchased:

Finally, we just received some Bonide Mosquito Beater granules. They get pretty good reviews. One said that they smell like citronella (one of the ingredients) and that they work great until rain washes the pellets away. We are going to try an application just before our pig roast, so I'll let you know how they work. I am expecting that with these three products, our yard will be, hopefully, mosquito-free for the rest of the summer! Here is a link to the Mosquito Beater granules:

December 18, 2010

My dear friend Kim has done it again- she's wrapped all her Christmas presents in an eco-friendly wrapping that she made herself from various recycled items. This year, she chose fabric- from clothing, fabric scraps, and other odds and ends. I think it looks fabulous! What a great way to avoid all the excessive garbage leftover from Christmas.

July 09, 2010

Well, after four straight days in the mid-nineties, the heat has
finally broken. A round of storms has rolled in, and that is just fine
with me! I've been doing great with my pregnancy so far, but at 31
weeks, the heat and humidity has been just killing me. Stepping out
into the 90+ degree weather, I instantly feel all of my energy fizzling
away. On top of the heat, it's been an incredibly rainy spring and early
summer, which means two not-so-good things: more blood-sucking
mosquitoes than I think I've ever seen in my life, and out-of-control
weeds that I just can't keep up with. I have a feeling that I'm going to
have to adapt the old "just do what you can do and let the rest go
attitude" with the garden this summer, which is not an easy pill to
swallow (but a necessary one!).

So when the rains started falling
this morning, I eagerly donned my gardening gloves and headed outside.
After all this crazy heat, weeding in the rain was bliss! Messy, yes,
but wonderful. I weeded until I was soaked through and covered in mud,
thoroughly enjoying the cooling splash of the light raindrops on my
skin. When the storms really started picking up, I headed indoors.

The
slight cooling means I can also finally catch up on a few things that
are near impossible when it's sweltering: making chicken broth, baking
bread, and finally baking one of my favorite spring treats, rhubarb
coffee cake, before my last bit of rhubarb goes bad. I simply have
not been able to turn on the oven- it's just too hot!

So I thought
I'd include a recipe for my "Anything Goes Chicken Broth". It's quite
simple- there are no strict rules or ingredients, and it always comes
out delicious. I guess really it's more of a chicken AND vegetable
broth, and it works well in just about any recipe that calls for either
of the two.

Here's how we start: when we
cook a whole chicken, I save the back (which doesn't have a ton of meat)
and all the bones after we're finished eating, throwing them in a
Ziplock bag and into the freezer until I'm ready to make broth. Because
we raise our chickens, the best part is that I know my broth will be
all-natural and free of nasty chemicals. And it's great to use every
part of the chicken for something!

Then when I get to the point
where I have some veggies, like carrots, onions, and celery, that are
getting old and need to be used up, it's Broth Day. I throw the chicken
carcass into a big pot of water, adding any veggies that I have on hand.
Onions, garlic, carrots and celery are a must. Keep the skins on the
onions and garlic, washing and halving them. Be sure to use the leafy
part of the celery, it's the best for adding flavor for broth. I'll even
blanch and then freeze that leafy part for later when I have celery,
if I'm not ready to make broth.

Other veggies that I often throw
in, if I've got them, include some collard greens, Swiss chard, cabbage,
and beet greens. Then I add some fresh herbs (or dried if that's all
I've got), like thyme, sage, parsley, oregano, basil, and rosemary.
Whatever you like, really, just throw it in! Finish with some whole
peppercorns and salt, and you're good to go.

I usually let the
broth simmer for a few hours, and the longer the better. When it's
finished, strain all the chunks and pieces out (I use a collander), and
then you can freeze the broth in small Tupperware- type containers. I
tried using glass canning jars, only to discover that about half of them
cracked in the freezer (they are not meant to withstand freezing), so
plastic it must be. I try to freeze the broth in one- or two-cup serving
sizes, since that is what I often need for my recipes.

June 22, 2010

We awoke yesterday morning to discover one of our favorite hens, Little Lady, had passed away. Though we had expected this, as something had very clearly been wrong for quite a few days, it was quite sad nonetheless. She was our tiniest hen, and quite friendly- even the larger, more aggressive hens tended not to pick on her like they did with the other girls. She just had this personality that spoke: "I'm just here minding my own business, don't mind me."

Lady has had a rough year. She lost ALL of her back and tail feathers (except for a scraggly two or three) due to our very large and aggressive rooster finding it necessary to copulate with all of the hens multiple times a day. Those poor girls are always running from him (unless there is some kind of danger, and then he is their best friend!). Speckles the rooster is more than twice as large as Lady, and when he jumps on her back, he tends to do some damage. Ever since we've had a rooster, I've always jokingly warned my friends: if you are bad in this life, you will come back as a hen! Poor girls!

So about a week ago, I noticed Lady just sitting inside the coop on the perch, staring at the wall. Very unusual. The hens usually race out of the coop in the morning when we open it up for them. Then the next day, she stayed inside the coop again, staring it at the wall, this time on the floor. When we went to close up the coop late that night, she was just standing there outside the coop, unwilling to move. Something was definitely wrong.

My first guess was that Lady was eggbound. This can happen when a hen's egg gets stuck inside her. It will cause the chicken to lose interest in anything, including food and water, and ultimately, to die if something is not done. Unfortunately, the "something" involves such measures such as giving the chicken a warm bath, massaging her abdomen, and making her warm oatmeal with a vitamin supplement.

That night we skipped the warm bath, and focused on massaging her abdomen, trying to feel inside her for an egg that might be stuck. Unfortunately, she was so bony that is was hard to tell what we were feeling exactly. I made her some warm oatmeal with nutritional yeast, kelp meal, and raw milk, and after some hesitation, she ate it.

The next morning we found an egg right next to Lady, and hoped that had done the trick. She came out of the coop and even ate a little bit. She seemed to be on the up and up, but by the following day she was back to the same uninterested, sickly looking Lady.

This routine went on for nearly a week, and as I said, ultimately ended in tragedy. Honestly, she had become so scraggly without her feathers that we hadn't expected her to make it through the winter, so we are not surprised that Lady is the first of our hens to die. She was secretly one of my favorites, and so today we are remembering Lady, the wee little hen.

May 13, 2010

Oh dear! It's been ages since I last posted. Spring has a funny way of slipping by like that.... We wait impatiently all winter for a little warmth and sunshine, and at the first drop of sunny wonderfulness, our days suddenly become a blur. It's wonderful to be busy again, but as usual, I find myself thinking that we'll never get to all our grand plans once again. I think that's the beauty of life- there is always next year, and the dreams we have that get put on hold keep us planning, preparing, and anticipating.

So here's what we've been up to so far:

We bought another eight fruit trees to start building our orchard. It's not very many, but we figure we'll add another eight or so each year until we have a sizeable collection. Last year we purchased our trees from Menard's, and unfortunately, 3 out of the 5 never blossomed. By the time we realized that the trees were dead, Menard's would no longer take them back. So we certainly won't be making that mistake again! This year we found a great local organization to support, the Van County Conservation District, through their annual Tree Sale. The trees are all healthy and doing great, and at $17 a piece, they were a pretty good deal. No matter where you live, there should be a local conservation district that you can visit, and chances are they have some sort of plant or tree sales. If you live in or near Van Buren County, MI, you can check out our local Conservation District here: http://vanburencd.org/archives/category/shop-online

I've planted the potatoes, snap peas, regular peas, radishes, carrots, onions, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, and cabbage. Unfortunately the chickens keep sneaking into our garden and nibbling on my lettuce. As spring progresses, they usually find other stuff that interests them and stay out of the garden, but this early on, they can't seem to resist the tender green leaves of my heirloom lettuce. Arrrgggghhh!

Our chickens have also been wandering over to our neighbor's house, and the neighbors are not happy about it. Chickens can kick up and make a mess of your landscaping very quickly (which doesn't bother us, but of course our neighbors are not pleased at all), and our rooster is becoming quite aggressive. So the chickens only get to free-range in the evening until Alex has the time to install a border fence between our property lines to keep them on our side. In hindsight, we should have placed the coop on the other side of our property, which backs up to the woods rather than a neighbor's house.

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our four piggies for this summer. It seems our pig farmer is busy planting his hundreds of acres of corn (there is no rest for real farmers this time of year), so we will just continue to wait.

It's been four years since we added a big load of manure to our garden plots, so we will be doing that again this year. One of our neighbors raises organic, free-range cows, and has all the composted manure we could ever want. Be careful if you are planning to add manure to your garden- make sure it has been composting at least over winter, so that you do not "burn" your plants with the high levels of nitrogen. You also want to add your manure as early in spring as possible, a good 120 days or so before harvest (the more composted it is, the shorter that time period can be) to avoid any bacterial contamination.

I am helping out this year with a Victory Garden project at the Bangor Alternative High School where I teach high school completion evening classes for adults. The high school students working on the garden project are so excited, and they are even making a documentary about their work. It's so neat to see the movement toward fresh food and community gardens springing up in schools around the country!

Finally, we have some wonderful news: we are expecting a little helper on the farm! I am currently 23 weeks pregnant with our first baby. Not too sure how this is going to affect my ability to garden this summer, but I'm ready to take it all in stride. We have cut back a bit on the amount we are growing, though I do still want to have a fresh supply of food for both me and my baby come fall. I'll keep you updated on our adventures.

Wherever you are, whatever you do, I hope that spring is bringing you many enjoyable days and a summer to look forward to!

No Impact ManI love this blog! One New Yorker pondering the strength (or futility) of one in changing the world. He lived an entire year trying to create no pollution and have no negative impact on the planet (yes, that means no electricity or car!), and now he is continuing his blog, tackling important issues surrounding the future of sustainability issues.

Animal, Vegetable, MiracleThe website of my favorite author and my currently favorite book, which chronicles Barbara Kingsolver's adventures when her family moves to a farm and begins to eat exclusively local and organic foods.